Bruises
by Little-miss-laughs-alot
Summary: What if the New Directions discovered just how bad Karofsky's bullying of Kurt was? What would happen if they learned the full story? Takes place before Furt. Slightly AU. T to be safe. Mild Klaine, but not really.


**A/N-Hey! I know I should be updating my other stories, but I found this on my flash drive, and decided to edit, finish, and post it! This is a bit AU, and takes place before Furt. I think I wrote this partly right before and partly right after Furt came out. I hope you like it! I apologize if any characters are OOC!**

**DISCLAIMER- I dont own Glee!**

"No way!"

"It's true!"

Rachel squealed at Tina's words. "Oh my god! That's so sweet!"

"Yes, we get that Mike is a great boyfriend, can we move on now?" Santana drawled, rolling her eyes at the other girls and Kurt, who glared at her.

"Well, Satan, what do you want to talk about?" Kurt asked, perched on a chair. "And I do not want to hear how good Noah is at-"

"I wasn't going to say anything about Puckerman. I was going to ask how your boyfriend was. Cause I saw the picture in your locker, and if he wasn't gay, I'd totally tap that." Kurt turned bright pink as all of the New Direction girls looked at him expectantly.

"Blaine's not my boyfriend." Kurt deadpanned. "Just a friend."

"Nuh-uh, white boy. You know I don't believe you there. I went to Breadstix with the two of you, and if their isn't something there, at least on your end, then I'll say that the pasta at the Stix is good." The girls giggled at Mercedes' words before turning back to see Kurt respond.

"He's not my boyfriend!" the boy protested.

"But you wish he was." Quinn spoke up. Kurt flushed even more, causing the girls to giggle again.

"Don't deny it!" "Come on! Admit it!" "Should I be worried if Lord Tubbington is ODing on catnip?" Everyone ignored Brittany's statement, staring at Kurt.

"Alright!" he said after a moment of silence, "Alright! I have a monster crush on him, okay?" The girls all 'Aww'ed at him and he rolled his eyes, before catching sight of something outside the music room and freezing, the blood rushing from his face leaving him paler than ever.

"Kurt? You okay?" Mercedes asked, causing the other girls to look up and notice their friend's face. "What's wrong?"

Kurt's eyes were wide as he looked through the open door. The girls turned and saw Karofsky sneering at them; or, one of them in particular.

Santana flipped him off, an all of the others gathered around him defensively, glaring at the football player until he disappeared. "Are you okay, Kurt?" Rachel and Mercedes moved as if to hug him, but he flinched slightly and jumped off of the edge of the seat where he had been sitting, leaving quickly and without a word.

The girls looked at each other concernedly. "What has Karofsky done to dolphin?" Brittany asked, for once, seeming to know exactly what was going on.

"I don't know." Mercedes murmured, staring out the doorway into the empty hallway. "We've all gone through Hell, but something seems to be worse with Kurt." The room was quiet, as all of its occupants were deep in thought. Until the boys came in.

"Hey guys, what are you all doing here so early?" Sam asked, followed by the rest of the guys. Mercedes looked up.

"We were having some girl talk, but then Kurt saw Karofsky and got really pale and left." This made the cheerful mood of the guys evaporate, and they all looked around at each other, worried.

"We were just saying that there's something different about Kurt's bullying than the rest of ours." Quinn put in.

"Yeah, he has been really jumpy lately. Like, yesterday, my mom went to hug him, and he just jumped up and went into a different room. He loves hugs!" Finn said, confusion evident in his voice. The room was quiet once more, before Mr. Shuester came in and disrupted the silence as well, Kurt slipping in after him and sitting on one of the seats in the back. The whole glee club kept shooting him worried glances throughout the whole hour. Nobody, not even Rachel, solo'd that day; they were too preoccupied with their friend.

Sometime in the middle of rehearsal, a buzzing was heard, causing everyone to check their bags to locate the source. After realizing it wasn't their phone, all of the teenagers looked around to see who was responsible for the disruption. Mercedes was the first to notice, and she nudged Quinn and pointed, the rest of New Directions following her finger. Kurt was smiling softly at the screen of his iPhone as he read the message.

Courage -B

He set down the phone and looked up, about to apologize for interrupting rehearsal, only to find a dozen pairs of eyes watching him. "What?"

"Nothing," Tina said.

"Just don't see you smile much anymore." Mercedes finished Tina's sentence, looking at Kurt worriedly. Kurt didn't really know what to say to that, so he turned back to the front, motioning for Mr. Shue to continue.

"As I was saying, thanks to Tina, Mercedes, and Quinn, our clothes are all set for sectionals!" Everyone cheered. "Thank you for all of your hard work, would you like to show them to the club?" The three nodded, standing up.

"Well, for the girls, we have these." Quinn held up a black and white dress with a puffy skirt and black leggings. All of the girls exclaimed over them.

"And for the guys," Mercedes continued, "We have these!" She held up black pants, and a dark red polo shirt. The guys all nodded approvingly.

"Okay, can everyone please go try them on, so we can make any adjustments?" Tina requested, putting the rest of the dresses on the piano, and the shirts and pants on the piano bench. Everyone nodded, getting up to grab theirs and head away to change. Kurt waited until the crowd around the piano had died down before heading up to grab his.

As he picked up the shirt, he froze. It was short-sleeved. "Is there a problem, Kurt?" Mr. Shue asked, having seen the countertenor hesitate.

"No, no problem at all." Kurt responded, his voice slightly higher than usual. He should have gone home early. Kurt headed to the bathroom further away from the choir room than the one he heard the boys' voices coming from. After checking to make sure nobody was in there, he headed into the stall on the end. He winced and gritted his teeth as he pulled his long-sleeved shirt over his head and took off his skinny jeans.

He sighed and put on the red shirt and black pants, then gathered up his clothes and stepped out of the stall, avoiding eye contact with himself in the mirror. He walked down the hall and looked at the time. It had been nearly ten minutes, all of the others would be in the choir room when he walked in. The fluorescent lights shone on the shiny floor of the hallway, reflecting differently on places where the slushees hadn't been cleaned quick enough, leaving a light, colorful stain. Kurt walked slowly, prolonging the moment before he had to set foot in the room, before he would have to deal with the faces of pity, of shock. He prolonged the moment until he couldn't any longer and pushed open the door. The various New Direction members were all standing, either standing still as their outfit was pinned, or doing the actual pinning. Mr. Shue was absent, probably in his office or Figgin's office.

"There you are, Kurt! We've been waiting for you!" Mercedes' voice came from behind Finn, who was getting the collar of his shirt folded down. She finished and stepped out, about to continue speaking, but caught sight of Kurt. "What the hell happened to you!" The outburst caused everyone to turn around and gasp at the sight that was Kurt.

Kurt wasn't a very self-conscious person, but he now tried to hide his arms, but was too late. The whole group rushed to examine him, hoping their eyes were wrong, and they didn't see what they thought they did. Bruises of various states of healing coated his arms. Red, purple, and brown covered his skin. Cuts and scratches were present too, some very recent, others not so much. The bruises continued, until they disappeared under Kurt's sleeves. The shirt covering part of the injuries had been bought using Kurt's measurements from a few weeks previous, and was expected to fit perfectly, hung off of him, emphasizing the weight loss.

"Oh my god, Kurt!" Finn breathed, staring at the boy's- that with the way everything was going, would soon be his brother- injuries in shock. Everyone else was silent, unable to process what they saw.

Then Mercedes spoke softly, like you would to an injured animal. "Kurt, take off your shirt." Kurt looked cornered, and wanted to object, but didn't seem to have the energy anymore. He braced himself and winced as he pulled the shirt over his head, revealing his bare torso, muscles screaming in pain. Everyone gasped. It was even worse on his torso. It looked as if he had been coated in paint, angry purple bruises stood out against his naturally pale skin.

"Kurt. Did Karofsky do this to you?" Santana asked, a dangerous edge to her tone. Nobody messes with Santana Lopez's friends. Only she was allowed to mess with them. Kurt nodded, eyes wide. He looked terrified.

Puck was thinking, "What dirt do you have on him?" Everyone turned to stare at him, but Kurt's eyes got wider.

"What do you mean, Puckerman?"

"I mean that Karofsky wouldn't waste that much effort if you didn't have something to use against him, that he was scared to have available to the public." Kurt grew paler, knowing the question was coming. "How long has this been going on for?"

That wasn't the question he was expecting, so it took Kurt a moment to process what had been said. "About three weeks. He said that if I told anyone, he'd..." Kurt trailed off, but the others got the picture, causing the room to erupt.

"He threatened your LIFE!" "He told you he was going to kill you?" "What the hell!"

"Wait, what didn't he want you to tell? That you were getting beat up? Or something else? We wont tell him you told us." Finn asked, looking at Kurt.

Kurt shook his head, ignoring the pain of his muscles. "No!" His friends looked surprised at his outburst, and he repeated himself, quieter this time. "No. I'm not telling. I don't care what you say. I'm not telling you something that doesn't involve you."

"How does it involve you, then?" Puck challenged.

"It doesn't! I only found out by accident, and I spend every day wishing I didn't!" Kurt yelled at them all, getting frustrated. "Why can't you all just leave it? If I tell you, it'll make everything worse!" Kurt turned and picked up his long-sleeved shirt, wincing as he pulled it on again, effectively covering the bruises. Almost all of the girls had tears in their eyes, and Santana looked murderous.

"Kurt?" Mercedes said softly. "Please? If you tell someone, then we can help." She reached out as if to put a hand on his shoulder but thought better of it, drawing her hand back.

Kurt shook his head, tears present in his eyes. "No." When Finn looked like he was about to interject, he spoke again, "No. I'm not going to put him through that. I don't care what he's done to me, but I'm not going to make him go through life in the most homophobic town in Ohio, when he hasn't had a chance to figure himself out yet." Kurt's voice had been getting louder as he spoke. Then after a second, his blue eyes widened, realizing what he had said. Everyone else seemed to realize too.

"Oh my god." "Did you just-" "Karofsky's gay?" "Is he a dolphin too?" "How did you find out?"

At the last comment, everyone grew quiet, staring at Kurf again. The pale boy took a shaky breath and checked to make sure the door was closed before walking over to one of the chairs in the front row and sitting down on the edge of it. He looked down, avoiding eye contact with the rest, who had gathered around, like some sort of story-telling circle. 'Well,' Kurt mused, 'it sort of was.' The boy breathed in an out a few times before looking at the worried faces of his friends. He didn't want to tell them, but they were his family, and they deserved to know. Blaine had been hinting that he should tell them ever since his confrontation, but never pushing him to.

"Are you okay, Kurtie?" Brittany asked, tears still in her eyes.

Kurt sighed, "Not really, Britt. I haven't been for a while now."

"Kurt? Are you going to tell us what's been happening?" Rachel asked, watching him worriedly. Kurt and her may clash a lot, but he was still one of- alright, her best friend.

"If you all really do want to know, I'll tell you. I don't want to, but you deserve to know if you want, and Blaine's been wanting me to tell you."

"Wait, Blaine knew about this?" Finn asked, shocked. "How did he know?"

Kurt's eyes narrowed slightly. "He picked up in the first few minutes that I talked to him that I was getting bullied, and I've told him everything that's been happening, because he listens to what I have to say and helps a lot." When the New Directions looked guilty, he backtracked slightly. "I don't blame you guys for not noticing. You all have your own problems, and I didn't really broadcast that I was getting beat up every day."

"But, Blaine noticed..." Rachel said, obviously feeling bad.

"Blaine noticed because he knows the signs of being beat up and bullied better than any of you do." Then Kurt looked up at them, "But I'm not revealing Blaine's story. That's his story to tell, not mine."

"If you won't tell us his, can you tell us yours?" Sam spoke up. The others nodded, agreeing with Sam.

Kurt looked off in the direction of the white board, brow furrowed, thinking and subconsciously checking again to see if the door was shut. "I guess it started when we were doing our girls versus boys competition a few weeks ago." He snapped out of his concentration and made eye contact with each of them, especially the boys. "I expect no interruptions from any of you. Okay? And this does NOT leave this room, or I'm not telling you anything." Everyone mumbled their consent before he continued.

"Well, you all know that the bullying with Karofsky had been going on for a while, but that week was when it really got going. I was sent over to spy on the Warblers, after having my costume ideas shot down. Quite rudely, in fact." He looked directly at Puck. "Well, I put together an imitation of the uniform and got into the school, only to find everyone rushing off in one direction. I stopped a boy on the staircase and pretended I was new and lost, and I was told that there was an impromptu performance in the Senior Commons, which tended to shut the school down for a while." He paused at everyone's astonished looks. "The Warblers are really popular.

"The boy grabbed my hand and brought me on a shortcut to the commons, and imagine my surprise when I discovered that the boy I had met on the staircase was the lead singer!" The girls smiled slightly at each other, Kurt's face when he spoke about Blaine was adorable, but they couldn't forget the reason he was telling the story. "Well, after the performance, he and two other Warblers took me to the campus coffee shop. I asked if they were all gay," he chuckled slightly at this, "But they just laughed and told me that Blaine was gay, but they weren't. It wasn't a gay school, they just had a zero-tolerance no bullying policy." The others exchanged amazed looks. That place sounded great.

"Blaine noticed something was up and asked Wes and David to leave, so that he could talk to me. He asked if I was having trouble at school, and I told him about Karofsky, how he picked on me all the time... Well, Blaine said that I had two options. One was to transfer, like he did. Unfortunately, the tuition I expensive at Dalton, no matter how strict their policy was. The other option was to refuse to be the victim, and stand up to him." Kurt smiled grimly. "It was great advice, but it didn't really go my way."

Kurt stare down at his hands again, playing with the soft fabric of his shirt. This part was going to be hard to tell. His friends didn't push him, knowing that this was hard for him to do, but not knowing how hard. "The next time Karofsky hit my phone out of my hand, I got mad and followed him into the locker room to yell at him. I don't even really remember what I said, but it was something along the lines of 'you can't punch the gay out of me, just like I can't punch the ignoramus out of you.'" The glee club laughed slightly. Kurt always had the best comebacks.

"Unfortunately, I seemed to hit a nerve. He slammed his locker shut, and started telling me not to push him. I continued reprimanding him, and he finally snapped." His friends watched worriedly as the memory caused Kurt's eyes to fill with tears that he quickly wiped away. He drew a shuddering breath. "I expected him to punch me, to slam me against a locker, to yell. Any of that would have been preferable to what really happened." Kurt closed his eyes. "I- Before that day, I had never been kissed by another boy." The meaning of the words took a minute to sink in, but when they did, all hell broke loose.

All of the boys, Santana, and Mercedes jumped up angrily. "Nobody touches my boy!" Mercedes yelled, her voice mixing with Santana's, who was yelling rapidly in Spanish. "What the hell, dude!" came from Finn, and "Somebody stop me from going to kill this dude, 'cause I'm not going back to juvy." came from Puck. The other guys were all enraged too, and most of the girls had tears in their eyes, gathering around Kurt. Kurt seemed to be suppressing a sob, but ended up giving up, tears streaming down his face at the memory of the horrible experience.

After a few minutes, they all converged around Kurt, who had managed to stop his tears. "O-okay. So after the incident, I told Blaine what had happened, and he drove all the way to Lima to help me confront Karofsky. Even though we didn't like how he went about it, we understood what he was going through, and tried to tell him we could help." He chuckled weakly. "Karofsky didn't take Blaine telling him that he understood what he was going through very well. We confronted him, and he denied everything. He slammed Blaine against the fence, and I had to stop him from doing any damage.

"The next day, Karofsky cornered me, and said that if I told anyone about the kiss, he'd kill me." The others gritted their teeth angrily, but remembered that they weren't supposed to interrupt. "He's taken to reminding me daily. I try to avoid him, but he always manages to corner me." Kurt looked up at his friends, making eye contact again. "But remember, you promised that none of this leaves the room." Everyone opened their mouths to protest, but he silenced them with a glare, "You promised. My dad doesn't need any more stress in his life, it could cause a relapse. I can handle this, but you do not tell anyone. Got it?" They all looked ready to argue, but knew it would be no use. Kurt's mind was set.

"Good." He stood up and walked out of the room to the bathroom, his normal clothes in his arms. The rest of the glee club exchanged looks. What could they do? If they didn't tell, Karofsky would make Kurt's life miserable, but if they told, Kurt wouldn't trust them again. As one, they made a decision. Kurt's safety went before anything else.

"Can Kurt Hummel please report to the main office?" The voice of Sue Sylvester voice crackled over the loudspeaker the next day, causing Kurt to look up from his French worksheet, and his friends, scattered around the school in different classrooms to exchange glances. This was it. Kurt looked to his teacher, who gave him a 'go ahead' gesture, so he headed down the hallway. It had to be serious, because Sue had used his real name, as opposed to Lady, or Porcelain. He entered the principals office and froze at what he saw. Karofsky, with a man that was probably Mr. Karofsky, sitting on a couch in front of Sue, and across from Kurt's dad.

"What's going on?" Kurt asked apprehensively when everyone looked at him.

Sue sighed and said, "I received multiple anonymous tip offs that you have been repeatedly beat up by David Karofsky, and, as principal, it is my job to make sure whether or not these accusations are correct."

Karofsky looked straight at her, somewhat desperately. "I didn't do anything! I swear!"

"Let's hear Kurt's side of the story, Dave." Mr. Karofsky said, looking to Kurt. Kurt moved over to the couch where his father was and sat on the edge. Burt moved to put an arm around Kurt's shoulders, but Kurt winced and avoided the arm.

"Kurt, if you would?" Sue looked directly at him, nonverbally telling him to spill everything.

"It's true." Kurt said, avoiding eye contact and twisting his hands in each other. "I've been getting beat up by David for the past few weeks."

Burt's eyes narrowed as he glared at the bully, and Kurt looked up to see it. "Dad! Please calm down! Too much stress could bring a relapse!"

Burt looked at his worried son. "I would rather have another heart attack, than have my son in danger every day." He turned his gaze to Sue. "What did the tip-offs say?"

"They said, and this is a direct quote from one- 'Kurt Hummel has been getting beat up almost every day for the past few weeks by David Karofsky, and has been threatened multiple times.'" Sue looked up from the paper to make eye contact with Kurt. "Mr. Karofsky has already denied everything, and unless we have proof, even a dozen tip-offs will do no good. Do you have proof?"

Kurt took a deep breath, before standing up and taking off his jacket, exposing his arms, which were just as covered in bruises as the day before. Karofsky looked cornered, Mr. Karofsky looked shocked, Sue looked shocked and angry, and Burt leapt out of his chair.

"WHAT THE HELL! This kid better get expelled for this!" He turned to Kurt, "Do you mean to tell me that this kid," he pointed at Karofsky, "Has beaten the crap out of you, and you never told me?" Kurt looked down.

"I didn't want to add anymore stress to your life." the boy mumbled. Burt shook his head.

"I told you. I want to know these things. I want to be there for you, but you need to let me in, okay?"

"Okay." Burt turned back to Sue. "This has been happening for weeks, and nobody noticed? Aren't there security cameras? Other students? Teachers? Teachers whose job it it to protect these kids and give them a safe environment?"

"The budget has been cut so low, that the security cameras have been disabled, and nobody had come forward until yesterday." Sue stated, a hint of anger in her tone. "The teachers at this school are incompetent fools, and I would have gotten a better teaching staff, but there was a problem with my credit card on Amazon. They couldn't ship in." She shook her head. "After considering both sides of the story, David Karofsky is hereby expelled. You can appeal to the school board, but I doubt anything will happen." Karofsky looked angry, but his father just nodded and led his son to the door.

He turned back and said, "I'm truly sorry that this has happened." before leaving, escorted by Sue, who started speaking to him outside.

Kurt turned to his own father, slipping his jacket back on. "Can I go back to French?"

"Not yet." Burt sat down on the couch he had occupied previously, gesturing for Kurt to sit also. "He wasn't the only one to give you a hard time, was he?"

"No." Kurt said. "He wasn't. Almost all of the jocks, football and hockey both, have been giving me a hard time." Burt winced. If it got the hockey team and the football team on the same side...

Burt sighed. "I'm not sure I want you coming to this school any more, Kurt. I'm sorry, but your safety comes first." Kurt opened his mouth, but Burt continued speaking. "I don't want you to become one of those kids you hear about on the news, who were bullied to death. I want you to have a good high school experience, which is why," he took a deep breath, "I did some research, and I think that Dalton is the best choice for you."

Kurt's mouth dropped open, and Burt kept talking. "The tuition is pretty expensive, but with your grades and voice, you'd be able to get a scholarship. I spoke to the dean this morning, and she said that she would find a place for you."

"Dad! Are you serious?" Kurt asked, eyes wide. Burt nodded. "But, what about the rest of the tuition? And the school is two hours away? How would I get there every day? The gas would be insanely expensive!" Burt sighed.

"Your mom started a bank account for you when you were just a baby, to help pay for your college. I also have some money put aside for other things, but you're much more important right now. As for the getting to school?" He looked Kurt in the eyes. "You would be boarding." Kurt's jaw dropped again.

"Dad, are you sure? This is- I mean- boarding? I've never been away from home that long!"

"I know, but I wouldn't want you falling asleep at the wheel, and the dean said that there are rooms open." He smiled at his astonished son. "I'll miss you, but your safety comes first." Kurt ignored the screaming of his muscles, and embraced his dad.

"I love you, Dad." His voice was muffled against the t-shirt.

"I love you too, Kurt."

**A/N-Wasn't sure how to end this. I found it as just the kids seeing Kurt's bruises, then I decided to add on, then... ****_Might _****continue, maybe as a Kurt living at Dalton fic? Idk. Review? Pretty please****_?_**

**-Little-miss**


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